Subject: Re: libc major bumping (was Re: egcs 1.0.2 and netbsd.)
To: Todd Vierling <tv@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Jonathan Stone <jonathan@DSG.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 03/25/1998 15:36:37
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Jonathan Stone wrote:
: >Can't remove them completely from libc now: "binary compatibility."
: Yes we can, when we next bump the libc major number. And we should.
><OPINIONATED RANT MODE>
>No, we shouldn't bump the libc major.
[snip rant: some of the arguments are good ]
></OPINIONATED RANT MODE>
wow, sorry for presing your button.
I think you're saing we cant change major numbers, *ever*, or at least
we get no benefit from it if we do.
If so, why are we bothering with major-number versioning at all?
Especially on ELF platforms where the minor numbers are, strictly,
completely meaingless? I'm serious: why do we bother embedding the
libc major number in ELF libraries at all, if the major number is
set in concrete?
OTOH, since some people are proposing we ship packages with the
shared-libs of previous releases, maybe the library major numbers
aren't set in concrete quite as hard as you think.
Shipping packages of old shlibs seems like a better scheme than
growing libc.12 forever and ever and ever...